Happy Birthday Shardul Thakur: Top Performances and the Reason He's Called the 'Lord' of Indian Cricket

Shardul Thakur, one of India’s most crucial all-rounders across all formats, celebrates his 32nd birthday today. Hailing from Palghar in Maharashtra, Shardul spent his early days as a regular starter for the Mumbai team in the Ranji trophy. Shardul strived to make himself fitter which helped him reach new heights as he made his debut for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2015. He has now established himself as a regular starter for India, featuring in some of the most iconic fixtures while donning the iconic blue jersey.

Top Performances

Shardul Thakur has the ability to impress with both ball and a bat in equal measure. His variety as a pacer has helped him deliver some impressive performances for India.

Shardul has scalped four wickets on three occasions in his ODI career. One of them came earlier this year during India’s tour of the West Indies. He dismissed the likes of Shimron Hetmeyer, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales on August 1 at the Brian Lara Stadium.

He repeated the feat against England in 2021 and South Africa in 2018. Shardul also scalped four wickets against Sri Lanka in 2018 at the R Premadasa Stadium in a T20I match.

Shardul has also excelled as a lower-order batsman. He has often proven to be dependable, adding an extra layer of defence to India’s batting line-up.

His best batting performance in an ODI came against South Africa last year when he remained unbeaten to notch a half-century facing 43 balls at Boland Park.

He also proved his mettle in Tests when played a crucial innings for India, scoring 67 runs against Australia at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in 2021.

In the IPL, Shardul Thakur produced a master-class innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this year while representing Kolkata Knight Riders.

He played a fabulous counter-attacking knock of 68 runs off 29 balls. On the bowling front, Shardul also bagged a four-wicket haul against Punjab Kings while donning the colours of Delhi Capitals last year.

Famous Nicknames

Shardul Thakur’s excellent show on the pitch has also earned him some popular nicknames. He once opened up about his nicknames to BCCI.tv. “The Bull is what they have been calling me since my Ranji Trophy days. Lord and Beefy just got famous after my performances against England. It shows how much my teammates love me,” Shardul had revealed.

Thanks to his sublime all-round performances, Shardul even earned the nickname ‘Beefy’ on the lines of legendary English all-rounder Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham.